


Marvelous RWBY

by epitomizedTyrant



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2020-12-24 13:55:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21100577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epitomizedTyrant/pseuds/epitomizedTyrant
Summary: Nick Fury thought he had a complicated job before, but now one of his best agents long lost sister is sitting in the containment room, the council is breathing down his neck, and Steve Rodgers is pissed at him again.OrNick Fury's fabulous adventures with Beacon Graduates and other lunatics he cant control.





	1. Chapter 1

The damn transport bucked for the upteenth time, turning the rather simple calculation she was working on in the margins of her sketch book into the scrawlings of a drunken mad scientist. “Why the hell do you have me out here chasing storms anyway?” Ruby asked the AIM scientist from her seat in the rear of the bastardized SWAT APC. The vehicle was one of the perks of working for a government funded think tank. “I make weapons, not climate surveys.”

“These storms have been giving off strange energy pulses. Killian wants to try weaponization, so, here you are.” He said, not looking up from his tablet.

“There's another van, not one of ours. Looks like a regular personal or university monitoring vehicle, a lot closer to the storm than we are.” The driver announced to the back.

The lead researcher motioned for the interns to watch the readouts while he climbed into the front seat of the car. Jen and Fred, recent graduates from college, if Ruby recalled correctly. The storm grew wild, and wilder still. Ruby paid no attention to the commotion as they drove closer, instead looking at the readings. They were, in fact, quite interesting. Too structured to be normal EM fluctuation. Ruby’s brown eyes glanced out the front window, as the storm exploded in a cacophony of light and sound.

“That’s not a storm, is it?” She whispered.

“No, probably not.” Jen scowled. “Take us closer Rudd, something is happening.” Her eyes went wide. “Is that a person?”

They rolled to a stop and disembarked, Ruby stepping out first, suppressing laughter as a tall blond man demanded passage from the sky. The blonde made one false move too many and was dropped by a taser to the chest from the shorter girl.

“Nice shot!” Ruby called, waving at the group. “Who is that?” She asked, pretending she hadn’t just watched someone use a goddamn wormhole. She wondered, quietly, if the interns or William had also recognized those patterns. 

“No idea... He just... I grazed him with my car and... who are you?” The woman who had not just tasered someone asked.

“I’m Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you. We were chasing the same storm.” She grinned, eyeing the massive celtic knot burned into the ground. At least it wasn’t a spirograph. That month in the pacific had been enough spirographs for a lifetime.

“Could... Could you help us put him in the back of the van? We need to get him medical help!”

Ruby nodded, jogging over to the unconscious body. With a grunt of mild exertion she shouldered the big guy.

“Holy shit.” Taser exclaimed.

“He’s lighter than he looks!” Ruby lied. Beacon had given her the false impression that everyone was able to push cars over with a little elbow grease. She tossed the big man in the back of the van, and waved them off. “Follow them.” She said to the driver, her tone telling him that it was business time. A useful tone, especially when working in this kind of organization. The scientists unloaded first, keeping the guard with them, as Ruby and the driver headed back to town, just within sight of the van.

When she sees Shield cars show up in the town she finds the missing weight on the small of her back heavier than it had been for a long time. A small store in town sells her a pleasantly weighty Colt revolver that she keeps close, the store clerk only giving her red tipped hair and odd clothes a short look. She spends an hour unloading the cartridges and playing with her chemistry set, until she’s reasonably sure that she has the firepower to take down most threats Shield could bring.

They get fairly close to the group, Jane Foster seems trusting of their excuse about similar research. She gets on well with the actual scientists of the group. Ruby and Thor get on well, boisterous and hyper and not a pair to take themselves seriously. Darcy doesn't trust her, which is strange because she comes to trust Thor a little. There's just something shifty in the way Ruby holds herself that doesn’t fit. At one point Ruby jokingly asks Thor if he has a daughter named Nora. He doesn’t, but Jane thinks the way he thinks for a moment is funny. 

Thor’s friends show up, and Ruby loves them. The good humored trio are just wonderful, and she really wants to nuzzle into Lady Sif’s chest. She had gorgeous hair, and eyes, and all around was just...  _ damn _ . But she was an Asgardian, and Ruby was too deep in work at the moment to go for it, but she would be damned if she wasn’t going to watch her walk away.

There's a monster on the loose, and Ruby looks at the town and grits her teeth, aiming down the barrel of her pistol from her place on the roof. When a second hotheaded blonde shows up Ruby backs down, and urges AIM to leave. She loved Yang, but she had business to take care of yet.

Aldrich Killian dies, and AIM dies with him. The think tank, the innovators. From its ashes, in a laboratory called the Biotech Department by some, and the Raucous Garden by a few, an organism is designed. It is a mobile organism, a parody of humanity, designed only for computing. MODOC is asked how AIM moves forward, and in answer the monstrosity of flesh and steel becomes MODOK.

Jane Foster was not given time to miss Thor peacefully, her research too interesting to escape AIM’s eye. Erik Selvig’s mind is too obscured by Loki’s games to realize something has gone wrong, and Darcy Lewis is taken in the same moment. They lacked enough people to realize they were gone, and with the chaos of an alien invasion SHIELD’s attention was completely occupied elsewhere. 

Deep in a fabrication and materials laboratory located somewhere high and cold, Ruby Rose is overtaken by anger, and she schemes and plots, brown eyes always watching those who hold her captive.

She’d fight, and perhaps die, but she is not being held alone, and before she can find her glory, or death within it she must save them. She is not a machine, and she cares deeply, for the young astrophysicist and her assistant, for the scientists who didn’t know what they were getting into, the guards stolen and forced to perform. 

_ She would save them. _

Years would pass, and as they slipped forward brown would melt away into silver, and the sins of the mother would become the salvation of her daughters charges, if not the young woman herself.

  
  
  


At a small bistro in Paris two women sat enjoying the rainy day. One was about six feet tall, long black hair well groomed and styled in a severe cut, her eyes were gold and slitted like a cat’s, and she was happily going to town on a fish sandwich. Across from her sat a much shorter, shorter by a foot or more, woman with white hair pulled back in a long ponytail over her sharp white dress. the scar that crossed one eye lent her a dangerous air nearly as much as the tilt of her chin and the set of her shoulders.

“So...” Asked Weiss Schnee after a sip of coffee. “What do you think of these Avengers?”

Blake stopped eating for a moment to answer. “Screwing up our job market a bit, but they seem fine. Held off an alien invasion of New York, which is not a sentence I’d ever expected to say.”

“I sometimes miss the days of Beacon. Sure, it had its ups and downs, but there were never any world ending threats to think about. I like the small scale. The contained. And I liked facing the threats I did know about head on... don't like waiting for heroes.”

“I miss Ruby and Yang. Now that Yang is with whatever secret service she joined she barely calls or hangs out. Whatever happened with Ruby though...” Weiss frowned.

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but there's no way she’s dead. Yang called about her the other day actually, was all vague about it.”

“Called me too, actually. Same reason.”

“Ill bet you two Lien she wound up working for a super villain.”

Weiss scoffed. “Suckers bet. Who hasn't in this line of work. Speaking of, you have any work right now?”

“Nah, just finished up some deliveries in Sokovia last week. Paid well for a suspiciously easy job.”

“The Avengers just raided a compound up there. Really made a mess of it.”

Blake whistled. “Guess I finished that up at just the right time.” She pulled out her phone, and checked her newsfeed for the first time in a week. “Yeah, I think I could escape one or two of them, but...”

“That many meta’s would give even a full team trouble.”

“Mmm.”

“I heard from Pyrrha the other day. She seemed happy. Really happy.”

“Really? Good!”

“I think most of JNPR left the business. Some kind of super heroes now. Jaune of all people is the last of them that's a merc, would you believe it.”

“Oh really? He was hit pretty hard by the Fall...”

The two continued gossiping for quite some time, if a careful equilaterization of information can be considered gossip. They paid their bill with a generous tip, and if Weiss gave the cute waitress a lascivious wink as they departed, well, who could complain.

  
  


A cool breeze lifted Yang’s flowing locks as she kept watch outside of the secret laboratory. 

It was the proposed next target of an illusive saboteur or thief who had been stealing prototype energy weapons all across the world, and tonight it fell to her to catch them.

Hours passed, and she began to grow complacent when a shimmering sillhoutte of dim silver energy appeared from nowhere on the roof and then became suddenly corporeal, now a crimson cloaked figure of average height striding across the roof. 

Yang exploded forward leaping to the roof with the aid of stored kinetic energy, and levelled her shotgun at the intruder.

“Halt!”

The figure whipped around, a single line of silver down its mask was the closes thing to a face the crimson armor had.

“Yang?” It asked, and retracted its helmet, the familiar voice revealing itself to be none other than Ruby Rose. 

“Ruby?”

Yang looked through the one way glass at the woman who was supposedly her sister. The sister who she only learned a few days ago during an unrelated incident had been missing since college, seven years ago. Now she was sitting on the other side of the glass, in a suit of armor that looked like a terrifying brainchild of that sniper rifle she used to use at Beacon and Iron Man’s suit, all beneath a version of her beloved cloak made from shimmering metallic thread. And her eyes were glowing softly silver, instead of the very much non glowing brown they used to be. 

“So... That’s Ruby Rose.” Director Fury said as he entered the observation room. “Your long lost sister. What do I need to know?” he asked as he watched the woman in the room rapidly push a button on her chestplate, leaning down because of the thick cuffs around her wrists attaching her to the table. 

“What do you mean connection unavailable? The hell is making it unavailable?” She cursed and reactivated her faceplate, once more obscuring her face with the strange smooth crimson helm bifurcated by a line running chin to scalp.

Yang sighed, leaning forward. She’d thrown her lot in with Shield, but some secrets were not hers to tell. “Last time I saw her was back at Beacon Academy, she moved up two grades because... for some reason. After I graduated you hired me into Shield, and I thought I was the one who went dark. After a few calls to our old team mates, it turns out she went on to attend college at a tech university, and disappeared after dropping out due to the destruction of a large part of her campus and a dissolution of her major program.”   
“Mhmm. What was she studying?”

“According to the records I... recovered, her major was in engineering, specifically a special program at that school called ‘Engineering beyond the Edge’, whatever that means.”

“Timeline?”

“Lets see... After Beacon, she’d turned twenty because we missed a year during the Fall, then She’d have gone to college for at least two years, if she was doing summer classes... so she’s been awol for at least five years.”

“Shall we talk to her?” Fury asked, though Yang didn't think it was really a question.

“After you... Wait,” Yang stopped Fury, lightly touching his arm. “Ruby doesn't do well with threats. We need to focus on carrots, because the moment a stick comes out? She’ll get antsy and there is a very real possibility that antsiness might lead to a considerable amount of violence. SHIELD’s usual tactics wont work with her, she’s a Beacon graduate and, well, she’s been through the wringer a few times. If we start threatening her... She’s probably not gonna be inclined to leave the place standing, if you know what I mean.” 

Fury nodded and walked into the room, where Ruby jerked her head up, still masked.

“Hello, Miss Rose, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Now, would you mind telling me why you were going around stealing highly advanced technology from all sorts of places? And why you, someone who allegedly has no super powers, took eight Tranq rounds to get you to stay down for fifteen minutes?”

“What? I mean... Uh... I need to talk to a lawyer?”

Fury raised an eyebrow. Ruby changed tactics abruptly.

“Hi Yang, by the way, good to see you, why did you capture me? How did you capture me? Where are we?”

“Hi Rubes, I helped in your capture because you were breaking the law and stealing dangerous technology, we captured you by pumping you full of tranquilizer when you deactivated your helmet to talk to me which you probably don't remember. And you are in a secret base in the Shenandoah mountains.”

“Oh... So... Who are you?” She looked at the director, whose pokerface was still quite perfect. Probably from dealing with the Avengers so much.

“Nick Fury, director of Shield.”

“Oh shit, I got caught by Shield? Really? God damn it! I was REALLY hoping... Fuck. Yang! What? What do you guys want with me?” Yang was surprised by that reaction. Sure, Shield wasn’t exactly... trustworthy, but Ruby almost seemed to have history.

“We just want to know what's going on. And you were breaking the law using highly advanced technology. I’d have you thrown somewhere much deeper than this interview cell if Shield  _ wanted  _ something with you, or if your sister hadn’t vouched for you. She said you were very enamored with the idea of protecting the innocent.”

Ruby leaned forward. “And I would have broken out of here a long time ago if I hadn't remembered seeing Yang last thing before everything went blurry...” Then she sighed. “Listen, I was just cleaning up some uhhhhhh mistakes of mine.”

That was new. “Mistakes?” Fury asked, finally taking a seat across the small metal table from Ruby.

“Yeah, so, you know how I kinda... Worked for Advanced Ideas Mechanics for awhile?”

“What.” Yang said flatly, staring at her sister.

“Yeah, after the mad science branch of my school burnt down I decided to go find a job, and having been a Beacon graduate and having most of an engineering degree AIM picked me up. It was great for a while... and then, well, some assholes in the biotech department went a little crazy and everyone who wasn’t down to serve the... You are giving me weird looks.”

“AIM as in the government funded think tank headed by Aldrich Killian?” Fury said, tone flat.

“That name is kind of familiar? AIM was kind of a think tank, at first. After that whole... thing with Extremis and Iron Man back in 2012 things kinda... went off the rails. I only got hired in 2010, so I wasn’t with them long before it went from being a hired position to-” Ruby made robotic hand gestures as she imitated something, “YOU SERVE AIM. YOU SERVE THE FUTURE. WORK FOR THE FUTURE OR DIE.” 

Yang opened her mouth but Ruby continued babbling on.

“Of course, by die they meant get tortured till you fall back in line, but like, whatever. So I just kinda, kept working on new tech for a while. That's what I was stealing by the way, my tech that AIM sold.”

“How exactly would Shield not be aware of this organization?” Fury asked, Yang noticed that he had thumbed a switch in his palm out of Ruby’s line of sight.

She looked at him for a moment, still hidden behind her helmets complete lack of a face, before answering plainly. “Because AIM definitely has agents here. I mean, I literally had access to most of your files. Hence my distrust of you.”

Fury looked thoughtful for a moment. “How did you escape AIM?” He said evenly, clearly thinking about what he needed to do to uncompromise the organisation.

“Well, I figure if Tony Stark can build a fully functioning combat suit in a cave with a box of scraps and a car battery hooked up to his nipples I can make one in the most advanced technology fabrication center on the planet. I mean, sure, he has multiple degrees and I only had most of one in Mad Engineering but whatever, I only was missing Gen-Eds! Plus I had a ton of workplace experience! And Sure, maybe he is a genius but whatever, I'm pretty smart! It was not as easy as I expected, and sure it bought me a few visits to the old zappy room, but eventually I figured out how to do it, and do it in secret.”

Yang still knew her sister pretty well, and she could practically hear the omissions in her story. She wondered what her sister was hiding, especially since she first heard the subtle shift in tone when she mentioned her almost Alma Mater. 

“There’s a lot to unpack there...” Fury sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Can I go now? You have my whole life story, you know what I was doing, and you got some useful info on a security breach! Fair trade for freedom?”

“Ruby...” Yang said quietly. “Why are your eyes silver?”

“Haha what? No they aren’t!” Ruby chuckled awkwardly.

“Take off your mask.”

“N-no. I.... you were just imagining things!” Ruby stammered standing up, tearing the thick handcuffs around her wrists like so much paper. Her hands darted to her head, pulling up the thick crimson hood.

“Wait!” Yang shouted, holding out a hand. “It’s fine, you don't need to tell me, but don’t run, you aren’t in trouble, its fine!” Fury gave her a look, but apparently four years of exemplary work in her position as ‘Meta Muscle’ beside Maria’s grumpy professionalism was enough for him to put some kind of faith in her. Ruby tapped the button near the glowing silver crescent shape in her chestplate again, and when nothing happened leaned back against the wall.

“So... if its fine... what does Shield want with me?”

“As I said before, Miss Rose, we just wanted to know what was going on. You were an unknown, and I don't like unknowns. And don’t worry, I turned off all audio recording equipment in this room before you told us about the traitor agents, so this is mostly... off the record.”

Ruby nodded. “So, you’ll let me go?”

“Not yet, miss Rose. You did commit quite a few crimes. Not taking into account the fact that you worked for a high tech weapons dealer and went to... Mad Engineering college, did you say?”

“Okay, technically by the time AIM was actually evil I was more a captive than an employee, and I didn't realize that it was evil college until third semester when I started taking Gen Eds and “logistics of torture” was available.”

Yang pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry, evil college?”

“Santa Muerta’s. It's fun, kind of a party school!” 

Fury facepalmed, the clap of his palm against his forehead echoing in the small room. “Santa Muerta’s University for the Gifted and Mighty. Funded by Victor von Doom and a dozen other notable persons of interest in the technological world. The school, whose motto translates to “To become Lords of all Lands”? That Santa Muerta?”

Ruby crossed her arms indignantly. “I dont speak much Latin! How was I supposed to know what their motto meant! Besides, they offered me a scholarship.”

“A scholarship to become a Supervillain?” Yang groaned.

“That's on me for not reading the fine print, I get that, jeeze.” Ruby pouted, not that anyone could see it. “Besides, like your one to talk. Working for  _ Shield _ ?”

“Ruby...”

“You know these MK Ultra assholes don't treat their ally’s any better than their enemies right? I’ve seen their files, they’ve tried to steal Stark tech at every opportunity! They got half the blueprints for an Arc Reactor! Hell, if I hadn't busted out and blown up the facility this little gang would have been responsible for handing ARC REACTOR TECH TO AIM!” Ruby gesticulated wildly. “Do you know how bad that would have been? And don't even get me started on that whole Project Insight thing!”

Yang glanced at Fury, who had leaned forward to inspect Ruby a little more closely. Ruby huffed, dropping her heavy gauntlet clad hands on to the table.

“Miss Xiao-Long, let's talk in the hall for a moment.” Fury said, standing and walking out the door. Yang took a look at Ruby before following him promptly. Her helm was up, but her old sisterly instincts found something smug in the way Ruby was slouching that anyone else would likely miss.

“Thoughts?” He asked once they got out of earshot. Or at least, what Yang hoped was out of earshot, with that armor...

Her face fell. “She’s... off. Something is off with her story.”

“You think she was lying?” Fury scowled.

“Well, I think almost everything she said was true, but... She’s leaving stuff out. A lot, if I were to guess. Plus she deflected a lot, played the pity card and the danger card when she panicked about her eyes. She was doling out information slowly and uselessly, its a tactic designed to fool people like you and Romanov. That was Beacon Bullshitting 101 coming back in spades.”

“I have half a mind to throw her in Tartarus and not worry about her anymore.”

“She’d get out. And do a lot of damage on the way. Besides, she’s a good person, sort of. She could be very useful if we had the right leverage... I wish we knew why she hates Shield...”

“Still carrot and not stick?”

“AIM tried the stick. Now there is apparently an entire AIM site that doesn't exist anymore. If we can find the right carrot she’ll be...” Yang trailed off as Maria Hill marched up, face stern and an intense look in her eye. “Oh my god...” Yang whispered as she noted the professional press of her suit and the heavy handgun at her waist.

“Boss, Agent Xiao-Long. How did the interrogation go?.” Maria saluted.

“It was...informative.”

“And now we have a carrot!” Yang grinned.

“Anything to report Hill?” Fury said, while raising an eyebrow at Yang.

“The Lamarian Star raid was successful, but Captain America caught on to Widow. Her report says he’s pissed.”

Fury groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Yang pursed her lips. “Great. Just what we needed right now. What was that you were saying about a carrot Long?” Ah, he was annoyed now.

Yang held her hands out like she was presenting Maria.

“Agent Hill?” Fury’s voice was distinctly unimpressed.

“Me?” She said, tone equally flat.

“Yes! You’re strong, attractive, and a bit of a sarcastic ice queen! And you always carry a gun, so that's a huge plus!”

The two regarded her for a moment like she was a crazy person. 

“Im saying my sister has a type, and you are exactly that type. Well, she has several types, but you are the most... stable one. I love her but she’s kind of a disaster. If you-” She points at Maria, “-are the one to oversee her next couple of days, and you do so with care, you can definitely cheesecake her out!”

Fury held up one finger to stop her. “Are you seriously telling me you want Agent Hill to seduce your sister so she’ll work for us?”

Yang suddenly looked horrified. “NO! We just want to distract her with a hot girl! It’s just to take her mind off strategy! She just doesn’t think right when there’s a pretty woman in her line of sight!”

“I’ll give this some thought. Maria, meet us in the briefing room after informing miss Rose that a situation has come up and that she will be transferred to a guest room soon, and please apologize to her for our abrupt exit.” He pulled her in to whisper in her ear. “In addition to that, we have been compromised. Advanced Idea Mechanics. Ask Ruby about it, recording devices in the room are disabled, don't let her leave though, we need her where we can see her.” He stepped away, continuing on into the corridor, Yang just behind him. “I’m going to DC, I need to meet with the Captain.”

“So you’re like the competent badass one right? Like the right hand lady who gets things done?”

“...” Maria did not dignify that with a response.

“Strong silent type too! I dig it! So uh. Are you here to let me go?”

“No, I'm just here to transfer you to a guest room for now. We intend to let you go but we want some more information first.” Hill finally closed the door and sat down across from her, briefly eyeing the ruined cuffs on the table. “Now, there are some things I’d like to ask about and cross reference...”

Maria is walking and talking with a subordinate through the Shenandoah Location when Fury calls her and tells her to blackout, she says she’ll be four hours. She finds Yang hunting through personnel files, looking for the AIM leakers.

“Any luck?”

“None. I’ve talked to Ru about it three times but she says she only had access to digital files. We might not even have an infiltration, we might have just gotten hacked very effectively.”

“Speaking of Ruby...” Maria thumbed the blackout button, and set it on the table. It was a little different than Fury’s, though it accomplished the same goal. Just through more barbaric means of oscillating frequency jamming, instead of digital interference. “Fury just called me to DC, full Blackout. Something big might be about to happen, and we have one friendly Avenger on call and its Romanov. I’d like to have a heavyweight to throw at someone, and a wildcard could come in handy.”

“You want to make the call and try to cut a deal?” Yang asked.

“I do.”

“Well, let’s go talk to her.”

Yang gently touched her arm when they got near the guest room she had been given and had kindly remained in with minimal fuss. “Hill... Before we go in there... There is kind of a, uh, thing about Ruby and threats. The Fall, the... It was bad. It was bad for all of us. Ruby values life, she really does, but she knows not to hesitate. She had this... fairy tale ideal, she even called it that, about what she was, wanted to be, whatever. And then... The Fall of Beacon happened. We fought the Grimm, which is easy. Giant evil monsters, honestly just good clean fun, clear evil you know? Then we fought people. Some who were evil, some who were just on the other side. Things went bad. People threatened her, threatened her with the lives and wellbeing of the people she loved.” Yang scratched her left arm. “Everyone, including our enemies, believed in her fairy tale ideal, that she was exactly what she said she was.”

Yang looked distant for a moment, her muscular shoulders were tense, and her brow furrowed. “When she couldn’t be that ideal anymore, everyone learned exactly what a fairytail heroine could be when she didn’t have to worry about the moral at the end of the story.”

Maria nodded, and then paused. She wasn’t sure about Yang, most days. She trusted the blonde bombshell, but she didn’t know if they were friends. “What changed about you?”

“Hm?”

“In that year, that you mentioned. You said it was bad for all of you... that implies... Nevermind. Im sorry, I did not-”

“Its fine!” Yang smiled. “Yeah, I changed, I used to be... I had some anger management problems. The thing about Beacon... We are dangerous, Hill. All of us, our team, our classmates. We are more than flashy powers and wild weapons... What changed about me, was that I learnt control.” She turned her smile up from sad but earnest to blindingly genuine. “Now, let's go get Ruby on our side.”


	2. Chapter 2

Less than a day later Maria stood in front of a pane of glass, looking through at Fury. The one person she trusted. She glanced to her side, at the super soldier and the super spy. She frowned. She thumbed a small button in her pocket. Widow asks her about the ballistics. Nothing useful, nothing traceable. They stand in silence for a few moments, soaking in the danger of their situation. As Rogers starts to walk away, Maria breaks the silence.

“You two. There are only two people in Shield I trust. Agent Xiao-Long and Fury. Fury is out. Xiao-Long is busy.” She reached out her hand to Natasha. “Im choosing to trust you, Widow, Cap. There are people out there I don't trust, but are damn useful.” She said as soon as the assassin shook. “Never underestimate the devil you don't know.”

Natasha doesn't know how to respond, but she doesn't look at the button. She doesn't even think about looking at it. Not until much later, when she’s alone and desperately trying to figure out her next move, and Steve is angry and the  _ actual god damn Winter Soldier is suddenly very real _ ... then she looks at it, but doesnt press it. She lacks information, and maybe it's hubris, but she thinks she can figure this out. She hopes she can, at the least.

And then they get caught, and Maria Hill takes off the helmet of her disguise and drops it on the hydra agents corpse, and the first thing she says to Widow and Steve is; “You didn’t press the button, probably a good choice, for now. Who’s this guy?” gesturing at Sam.

They pull up to the dam an hour later and Nick Fury greets them in his usual manner. Gruffly. A little sarcastically.

Steve decides its time for Shield to be destroyed. Maria agrees. Fury is reluctant, but he sees the same world they do, and he nods.

“If you’re going to do this, you’re going to need assets. If we are taking out Shield, then Miss Xiao-Long doesn’t need to worry about catching rats.” Fury nods at Maria, and she prepares to make a call, but stops before leaving.

“You might as well press that button.” She says before continuing out the door. 

As it shuts behind her Steve turns back to Fury. “What’s this button?” He continued in a darker tone. “What exactly does it do.”

“It’s a favor. In exchange for her freedom, a person of interest offered us intel, and one favor.”

“Fury, please.” Steve sighed.

“Fine, don’t let me have my air of mystery. Her name is Ruby Rose, she is Yang Xiao-Long’s half sister, she’s got a suit of armor and a gun fetish, she’s on the other side of that button and since we are destroying Shield we might as well point her at it and see what happens.”

“... Nat? Thoughts?”

“Yang Xiao-Long has a sister?” She tilted her head.

“Yep.” Fury nodded, definitely not smirking.

“Is she... a lot like her sister?”

“Apparently she led their team at Beacon Academy. After being moved up two years into the Academy.”

Natasha’s eyes went wide.

“Beacon Academy?” Steve asked, concern in his voice.

Natasha answered first. “It's a school for Meta humans, except it teaches them to be mercenaries.”

Fury grinned from his place on the gurney. “As far as I am aware, she was moved up without any major metahuman abilities. Yang either doesn’t know why, or she doesn’t want to tell me.”

“Why are you enjoying this so much?” Steve narrowed his eyes.

“Because I’m being completely honest with you, and you have no idea what I’m saying. It illustrates perfectly why I like to control the flow of information.”

Steve deliberated for a long moment. “We need all the help we can get.” He finally said. “Press the button.”

When Natasha presses the small red button on the controller she isn’t sure what she is expecting, but it isn't nothing. After a moment of awkward silence, Fury spoke.

“It's a GPS transmitter, she won't arrive immediately.”

“How much time will it take?” Steve asks, but the only answer he gets is a shrug.

Maria re-entered the room. “Yang is on her way, she’s riding Bumblebee from the Arkansas facility.”

“Im not familiar with Yang either.” Steve said, glancing between Maria, Natasha, and Fury.

“You wouldn’t be. Her work keeps her out west. She’s not technically Shield, but she’s been on my payroll for the last few years.” Fury informed him, the playfulness from earlier replaced by an earnestness. 

“Are there any... personality quirks I should be aware of, with them?”

“Them?” Maria asked brow raised. “So you’ve decided on Ruby then?”

“Too many lives on the line to hold back.”

Hill nodded. “Yang is tough, honest, and strong. Reliable. She is also flippant, sarcastic, and an adrenaline junkie.” Hill sighed. “Ruby... from my brief interaction with her, and what her sister has said, is a lot like Stark. She’s snarky, hyperactive, and wears masks a very similar mask of playfulness.”

As she finished speaking the room echoed with a whisper, and the occupants jerked their heads to look at the silver silhouette that walked into the room from nowhere, before becoming a solid body of crimson armor, water dripping to the floor. Ruby continued toweling off her hair as she spoke. “Hey! So you figured out that fav- HOLY SHIT what happened to you?” Her silver eyes went wide as they landed on Fury.

“Got shot a few dozen times. Hurts like a bitch but I’ll recover.”

“Cool cool.” She towelled under her left arm as she pointed around the room. “Hey Maria, great to see you, looking good,” Maria rolled her eyes, “don’t know you” The doctor monitoring Fury grunted, “Romanov, read your work, great stuff! Loved the Stark file,” Her eyes narrowed, “You look familiar, are you an actor? Were you in Magic Mike?”

“N-no?”

“Damn shame, If you were I’d probably watch it.” She arched her back to get at the lower bits, carefully drying under the armor plates and against the grey hex textured skin.

“That’s Steve Rodgers, Captain America.” Fury said levelly. Maria caught a glimpse of mirth in his one eye that never reached the rest of his face.

“Huh, oh yeah your an Avenger! Thats why I recognized you! Neat.”

“Miss Rose...” Maria began, instantly getting her attention. “Why are you soaking wet?”

“I was in the shower.” Ruby answered.

“In your full armor.”

“Yeah?” She cocked her head like Maria was the weird one. “How else would I clean it?”

“Ok. Sure.” Maria closed her eyes, inhaled, and looked around the room. “So, who wants to fill her in?”

As Steve recounted the plan and the context, Maria watched in mild discomfort as Ruby grew more and more happy.

“So... in short. Your Favor is that you want me to blow up some FLYING AIRCRAFT CARRIERS? Loaded down with the most advanced tech shield has to offer? I... The feelings this favor conjures in me are things I really shouldn't describe in front of Cap'n Crunch.” She touched her lip with an armored finger. “Am I salivating? Oh thank the Dust I’m not drooling.”

“Sabotage, you heard that right? We are replacing individual targeting chips with our own so that they fire on each other instead.”

“All that means is we get to sit back and watch as they go up! Oh man, I can't wait to get a real look at those Insight weapons platforms!” Ruby said giddily. “Besides, what are the chances this goes according to plan? One in one thousand? OOOOH I cannot wait! Alright! I'll be in position!”

The world whispered once more and she turned into a silver silhouette before fading once more.

“She seems... dangerous.” Steve looked suspiciously at the space she once occupied.

“She is.” Fury answered.”Which is why we are pointing her at our big problem, and not hiring her for any more long term positions.”

“Why weren’t any Beacon graduates a part of the Avengers initiative?”

“Some were candidates. We do our best to only bring in those who are spectacular and hold the interests of all mankind in their hearts. To graduate from a mercenary academy there are certain concessions one makes. Even the best of them are hired guns. They are warriors. And each of them? Each of them are capable of utter destruction. And they will do it for money and personal gain above all else. People like you and Stark and the Avengers? You are important. Heroes are important.”

“Still, it seems like they would have been damn helpful in New York.”

“Some were there. We couldn't contact them, they just saw an alien invasion and wanted to have some fun. We have... strategically concealed the nuclear business from them.”

“Are you sure they were there to have fun, and not just to protect the world?”

“Sadly. Yes.”

It's a chaotic invasion. Ruby adds only a minor new variable, moving on the edge of things. She’s far stealthier than Natasha and Steve expected, though whether that stealth is a question of quietness or a lack of living enemies to report it, they aren't aware of her presence by the time Natasha is standing in the conference room, wearing the visage of one of the councilmembers.

And then of course everything goes to hell. The helicarriers rise, and they have to adapt. Steve doesn't see Ruby until shes manhandling the flak cannons, manually using them to annihilate the Hydra airborne units trying to kill Sam.

Even though they got into the air, the plan goes off without a hitch. They implant their keys and get off the carriers, only to find Yang having a brawl with the Winter Soldier, going blow for blow and effortlessly tanking every hit he gives her. Steve is pretty sure it's only because he intervenes that they capture Bucky before he gets major brain damage, while Ruby is in the background, giddily watching the helicarriers blow each other to hell and giggling a little.

None of them notice that the small pouch beneath her cloak is a little fuller than it had been.

The question of what to do with the man is answered quickly, when the Avengers as a group support Steve’s desire to see him rehabilitated. The Winter Soldier goes to the Avengers tower, and so does Yang Xiao-Long, deciding that she could make another transition from Agent to Hero.

  
  


Jane Foster doesn't mean to escape. Not without Darcy. Never without Darcy. But they are investigating weird spatial anomalies, one thing led to another, and now she’s in Asgard and there's magic inside her and it's killing her and there are dark elves and wars and then she’s back on earth, and Thors there and he’s beautiful and sorry and holding her gently, and then Loki is there, and they are with Darcy and killing AIM and Dark Elves and so much is happening. 

And then Ruby is there, but she’s got glowing silver eyes and she is slaughtering the AIM soldiers and helping Darcy and Thor and then the portals go crazy, everything goes crazy, and the event is... Over. 

And Thor is there, promising to come visit her and be with her, and his father isn’t trapping him in Asgard anymore. And Nick Fury is there, but now he and his small force are getting her and Darcy to a safe place, and they are free from AIM at last. And Ruby is gone, and no one knows where she went or how she got there in the first place.

  
  


Yang thinks the victory party went well, up until the crazy zombie robot started quoting fairy tales. Suddenly she was very glad that Ruby had been weird since the whole incident with Thor and the alien spaceships. Weird and gone. Pinochio allegories were a bit of a sore spot after everything that happened during the fall. She wasn’t sure if it was the sort of sore spot to trigger a violent meltdown, but she didn’t want to find out either way.

She was also glad that she herself had skipped the whole thing in Sokovia. Of course, she was busy with other things when the whole slugfest in Africa happened, and then they are fucking gone. She wished she had made it for that, maybe they could have prevented Ultron from escaping with the vibranium. She was really glad that Ruby hadn’t decided to help with that. Yang knows for a fact that her little sister would have just scarpered with the Vibranium the moment the Avengers blinked.

Yang is worried that things are spiraling out of control, so while fingering a Lien Coin in her pocket she makes a call.

The phone rings. Once. Twice.

“Hello, this is Winter Schnee of Atlas Tech, who am I speaking with?”

“Hey Win, this is Yang. Do you happen to have your sisters number? Some friends of mine are having a party and I wanted to invite her. Blake too.”

“Really? I’m sure I can find it. What sort of party?” 

“The kind that real celebrities show up to. Mostly philanthropists. I'm sure I can get you an invite too, if you want it.”

“... I’ll pass, pretty busy these days, but I’m sure Weiss will be happy to hear from you.”

“While I have you on the line... Juane and Pyrrha’s numbers... You have them? Might have another shindig with their names on it.”

“Of course. Do you have a pen and some paper?”

Sokovia rises.

Pietro Maximoff sees the bullets coming for Barton and he moves. He moves and he doesn’t know why, he shouldn’t care about the Avengers, but maybe its okay that he does. Those are some good last thoughts. He doesn't feel a thing. And then he turns around. Barton is looking up in fear and awe at a series of massive white circles of light containing intricate designs, and bullets held in mid air.

“Children fighting wars for kings and fools who play at being gods.” A voice full of refined disdain echoes loud, clear and imperious. “I think I’ve seen this movie before.” A woman in a white dress sneers at the retreating Quinjet. With a wave of her saber the bullets shoot off like a wall of flak into some stray robots, sundering them in a blink. “Yang. Blake. We missed the party.” 

She chuckles at something no one else can hear before beckoning the archer and the speedster. “Perhaps the afterparty will be more enjoyable.” 

A heavy aircraft that seemed to have come from nowhere is tracking the quinjet, though the dual rockets on each wing lack the propulsion to catch up to the stealth craft. As soon as the heroes climbed aboard the ratty Shield transports she flicked her saber once more and stepped onto a glyph that appeared on the ground before her, launching her with grace that Pietro doubted could be so easily learned when stepping onto the equivalent of a bounce pad.

“Who the hell was that?” Pietro asked the archer.

“No idea, not our problem. Friendly... I hope.”

  
  
  


Tony Stark watches as a woman in a flowing white dress bisects a robot with what appears to be a fencing foil as Concrete Blonde punches another one of Ultron’s legion into a scrap heap with her bare hands.

“Who is miss Pride and Prejudice over here?” He asks into the comm, blasting two robots with his repulsors.

“AFTER THE MISSION STARK!” Yang shouts, tearing a robot in half to use as projectiles. He was really glad Concrete Blonde was on the team, he wondered where Steve found her. She was like having an extra Hulk around, just in a smaller package that liked to use guns, sometimes.

They stop Ultrons plan, and its a close thing, but not that close.

They meet at Avengers Tower, deciding to hang out in the ruined party room instead of somewhere else. The aesthetic seemed fitting. Fury was standing in front of them, looking over the group. Yang’s friends had decided to join them, and the three of them were laughing and raising a toast, ignoring the more serious tone from where Fury was addressing the Avengers. 

“-And that is why Shield is back in business, this time with no motherfuckin nazis in my motherfuckin organization. Now... Agent Xiao-Long, I see you brought in a couple friends for this.”

Yang chuckled. “Yep. Meet Blake and Weiss, they were my other two teammates back at beacon!”

“A pleasure I’m sure. out of curiosity, have you any idea where Miss Ruby Rose is?” His voice was a little off, but Yang couldn't pick up why. 

“No, I haven't actually seen her since we destroyed project Insight.”

“Neither have we. We are understandably concerned.”

Thor turned his head from where he had wandered over to what was left of the bar and poured himself something, eyes wide in recognition. “Ruby Rose? About this tall, likes cloaks a lot? Red tipped hair? Has a deep love for strong, sweet drink?”

Most of the room turned to him in surprise. Tony was just confused, and really didn't like being the only person left out of the loop for once.

“Yeah, thats... my sister.” Yang said hesitantly.

“I saw her not so long ago! She was quite strange when I first met her, but she’s become quite the warrior! She was incredibly helpful during the Dark Elf invasion!”

“Wait what?” Yang was standing now, confusion painted across her features. “When was... When did you first meet her?”

“When I first came here! She helped Lady Jane Foster and I in the land of New Mexico!” He said with a fond grin.

Yang sat down hard and put a hand over her face. Fury looked at her with a bemused expression. “She was in New Mexico. She must have seen me... That would have been before AIM.... Hey Thor, what color were her eyes?”

“Hmm.... I dont recall, sadly, and she wore a helm during the battle with the elves!”

“Who are they talking about?” Tony asked, leaning into Natasha. 

“Yang’s sister, and fellow Beacon graduate.”

“Oh, Beacon, I hired some of their mercs to take out a couple stores of Stark weapons a while back. Great work ethic, loved their energy.” He paused for a moment. “Oh holy shit are they all from Beacon?”

“So...” The woman in white raises an eyebrow at Yang, who has taken to whacking her head against a wall. Tony can see cracks forming. “I know that both Blake and I would love to know what our illustrious leader has gotten up to these past few years.”

“Silver eyes?” Blake asks, the reserved woman seems to find a little less humor in the situation than Weiss. 

Yang takes a shot and turns back to them, and starts explaining. Thor seems to find it all quite humorous, like he’s hearing the exploits of a wild friend. And as it turns out, he is.

“And after we blew up Project Insight she seemed to calm down for awhile. Helped me and Cap clear out a couple Hydra bases... Then she went quiet after Thor came back, but I thought it was just a coincidence.”

“... You said she can teleport right?” Tony finally spoke up, after listening closely for the whole explanation.

“Yeah. But its... weird.”

“Shield had done multiple experiments on the Tesseract within the Shenandoah Location. Whatever she uses probably was thrown off by residual warping of local space time. Its possible that during the whole... Dark World? Event? She found herself in possession of coordinates for somewhere else. Like, say... Asgard.” He finished. 

“Oh my god what if Ruby is off planet...” Yang cradled her head in her hands.

  
  


In the past but not so far...

  
  


Heimdall could feel space warp, and the laws that bind the universe glance away as a spark of silver flashed out of the corner of his eye. He did not like the way that his gaze wanted to slide off of the person who had appeared.

“Ruby Rose. I must say, I am surprised to see you here.” He intoned, forcing his sight to stay on her with sheer force of will.

“What, you can see me? Uh, I mean... Hi! Have we met?” She recovered, helm retracting to reveal her face.

“We have not. I am Heimdall. There is little that escapes my sight, though you seem to come close. What technology are you using to do this?”

“Aha... oh, its called an SEP Field! Somebody Else's Problem Field.”

“Then that would explain why it has little effect on me. Everything is my problem.”

“Ah, hahah.” the woman laughed awkwardly, shifting silently in her armor.

“What do you intend to do on Asgard, Ruby Rose, friend of Thor Odinson?”

“Oh! Just poke around! Enjoy the sights! I’ve never been off of earth before you know!”

“Steal advanced technology and artefacts?”

“N-noooo.... I wouldn’t....” 

Heimdall sighed. Soon Loki would send guards to have him tossed in jail like a common criminal, for his twice over traitorous actions. He could deal with this. “I will not stop you, Ruby Rose.”

“Th-Thanks? Can I ask why? Like, you seemed cool, and Thor really respects you but like...”

“You are a friend of Thor, and have been an ally to him and therefore Asgard twice over. Asgard has never repaid you. In addition to this, our leader has recently been quietly usurped, and frankly I care little if you cause trouble for the replacement.”

“I see! Ill make sure to cause some chaos in your name!” She saluted, before dashing off, once more becoming nearly impossible to observe. Heimdall was suddenly unsure if he had made the right decision.


	3. Chapter 3

  
  


“Hey Yang.” Blake greeted as she walked into the living room, not paying attention to any of the Avengers present. 

“Hey Blake, what's up?”

“Weiss and I were talking. Times are... changing. Work is getting to be a bit of an iffy proposition. We were considering joining your Avengers, if you’d have us.” She scowled. “We were hired to deliver something to that Sokovian castle you all raided a while back.”

“I'm sure we would!” Yang grinned. “We’ll talk to the team about it later.” She chewed her lip for a moment. “I... I need to go back to Beacon. Soon. I need to talk to Oz.”

“We’ll come. I'd like to see Beacon again anyway. I miss Remnant, sometimes.”

Fury turns out to have a standing invitation to beacon from Ozpin himself, so the next morning finds the four of them climbing aboard Weiss’s Bullhead.

Its a long trip over the ocean. Bullheads are not known for speedy transport, nothing like a quinjet with speed and stealth. But bullheads are tough and maneuverable and that is what Weiss needs. Fury tries to suss out where they are going and how Weiss knows to take them wherever that is, but the navigation console that juts out of the sheet metal doesn't display anything he can read.

Eventually they come to a small island, and when Weiss is directly above it she climbs, and climbs, and as they approach the cloud layer Fury thinks that he understands how Beacon has stayed hidden. And then Weiss cuts the engines and they are falling. Nosediving directly towards the tiny bit of land. Fury almost lets out an undignified sound when they get get close to certain death, and then the world shakes and gravity disappears, and for moments that stretch on and on they are in freefall. Then gravity is suddenly once more violently present, in the opposite direction, and they are shooting up out of a layer of thick fog. Yang is laughing at him but for once he doesn't give her a disapproving look as he is instead struck by the incredible beauty of the surroundings. Ahead is a massive landmass that juts out of the fog, and as they climb Weiss starts to speak. 

"This used to be safer, back when Remnant had crumbled less. Back before the Fall. But here we are." She gestured to the cliffside they were flying up. "These used to be Vale's great docks."

"Vale?" 

"It's a city. Was a city. We trained to become huntresses here, back when we had to worry about things like Grimm. Beacon, and the other academies, kept all their best huntsman in remnant, while those who weren't so powerful would go to earth to use the skills they learned for mercenary work, and to keep resources flowing into Remnant."

"Okay, so what happened?"

"The Queen of Grimm." Yang scowled. "She attacked Beacon, killed Ruby's... friend, killed the city..." Yang rolled her shoulder. "Put some of us out of commission for awhile. As for where she is now... Long story short, she learned what happens when you fuck with Team RWBY. So now there are no more Grimm, but it doesn't matter here. Sanus still exists but its people are... some people lived. But Vale used to be a city four million people strong." She trailed off as the bullhead crested the cliffs, and they kept climbing past a burnt out cityscape. Leaning forward Fury could see the streets had been scarred, buildings shattered, and all the ashes had been long since swept away.

Weiss pointed forward, pulling his attention to a tower on a far hill. It was much different than the city below, clean and covered with scaffolds as construction seemed to continue even now. "Beacon."

Weiss gripped the controls a little harder, and Yang let out a shuddering breath. "Its being rebuilt. Ha. The madman is actually doing it." Yangs voice was softer than he had heard it for a while.

The radio pinged, and Weiss flicked a switch. "Hello there, Im registering four tokens on board that ship, not that we have the firepower to do anything about it if there weren't. Declare yourselves." An imperious voice rang out through the crackly speakers.

"Hello Professor Goodwitch, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and a guest of Ozpin's on board."

"Oh, well, its good to hear from you Weiss. You're clear to land wherever you like, and you know where the elevator is. I'd greet you, but I'm afraid I have work I can't get away from right now, will you be staying long?"

"At least a couple days. We'll make sure to visit."

"Good to hear. Good luck with Ozpin." She said as she clicked the line off. 

"So, you three have any idea why your old boss wanted to talk to me?" Fury asks as Weiss circles the tower, eyeing the crumpled docks and instead zeroing in on a space near the courtyard. He's surprised at the size of the campus as they get close.

"Nope. Cryptic shit is kind of his thing, so really who knows."

Weiss feels a shock wash over her as she steps out into the courtyard. She snickers. "Ruby blew us up right there." She points at a spot on the terrace. 

"I remember that." Blake hums. "I was watching from over here. I was... unhappy at first, with our team composition."

"I very much wanted to be on Pyrrha's." Weiss chuckled.

"Who wouldn't. Her nickname was the 'Invincible Girl' and she looks like a roman goddess of like, battle and fucking." Yang added sagely.

Weiss sighed. "I'm not dignifying that with a response."

"She has a point." Blake shrugged and Weiss threw up her hands and started walking to the elevator.

Ozpin is not what Fury expected. He's a younger man with gentle eyes and clothing more fitting of a working man than a headmaster. Fury spends so much time trying to get a read on the fellow that he only dials back into the conversation after the pleasantries have been exchanged, and Yang has asked for access to some sort of relic.

He’s frowning, but seemingly not all that opposed. “If you are sure. But be aware that this might be what sent Ruby down her current path.”

“If it helps... If it has the chance of helping me find her again...”

“I know, miss Xiao Long. here.” He set the black sphere down in the middle of the desk. “I trust you know the procedure?”

Yang nodded and picked up the sphere. “When will I see Ruby again?” She looked at the bottom. She snarled, eyes turning blood red for a moment, before she breathed deeply. She set down the sphere and growled out, “What the fuck does ‘a year past Ragnarok even mean?’”

“So that thing is a literal magic eight ball?” Fury asked, leaning forward to look at it.

“It gives you one answer per year, but that answer is almost always nearly indecipherable.”

“So what did it say to the Rose?”

“I don't even know what it was asked.” Ozpin sighed. “When she picked it up it shocked her, and she dropped it back onto the table... It rolled over and whatever she saw...” He looked out the window. “It put a new fire into her.”

“When was this?” Weiss asked, putting a cooling hand on Yang’s shoulder. 

“It was... It was just after the fall of Beacon.” Ozpin turned his attention back to the three members of team RWBY. “She came to see me, to ask for clarity on what to do next. They were dark times, and I didn’t have an answer, so I let her ask it.”

“And then...”

“And then Ruby helped team JNPR get to Mistral, before returning Miss Polendina’s weapons and core to her father.” 

“And then she went missing for a year.” Blake scratched her chin.

“Ozpin.” Yang’s voice was tight. “What color were Summer’s eyes.”

Fury had seen people on the verge of breaking many times, in many ways. Ozpin was cracking as he removed his glasses to meet his once students’ eyes. “I’m sorry, this... You should be able to have this conversation with Tai. I... I have failed the students of this school over and over. But... Summer’s eyes were Silver. I take this question to mean that Ruby’s eyes have turned silver?” Yang nodded. “I do not know the cause. I'm sorry, but... It is unrelated to the nature of what made them so unique.”

“What did make them stand out Ozpin?” Weiss asked cooly. “Her place was deserved, I know now, but, what did cause you to admit her a year early?”

“She is a rarity. A refined mutation honed over many generations, completely unintentionally. You are all Avengers. You work closely with someone... similar. The Ultron incident... truly a potential catastrophe. I nearly initiated the True Contract.”

“Ultron... Stark. She’s like stark?” Fury pursed his lips. “So what, is she just really smart?”

Weiss snorted quietly.

“In many ways Ruby Rose is a genius. She’s excellent at improvising combat strategy on the fly, her ability to understand the limits and uses of others abilities is incredible, but all of these things are learned abilities.”

“So she’s a “Mad Scientist.”” Fury said, making air quotes. 

There was a moment of silence. “May I use the sphere?” Blake asked. Ozpin nodded and she picked it up. “What were the exact words you showed to Ruby Rose when she touched you after the fall of Beacon?” She shook it and turned it over. Ozpin leaned forward, as did the others, each watching Blakes face as she read. “‘Your world needs a great defender. Your worlds in the path of Harm. Today a weapon for another, tomorrow a machine with no master.’”

“What is this ‘True Contract’ you mentioned?”

“Ah, well, it is rather simple, really. In the case that the world is in danger all graduates of huntsman schools are hired by the schools they graduated from to defend it.”

Maria greeted them when they arrived back at the tower a few days later. It had been a tense couple of days for team _WBY, history and tragedy so permeated the landscape of Remnant that they could not truly enjoy the place. Maria’s pursed lips were a blessed wakeup call from all that. “Good news and bad news. Good news is, I am now one hundred percent sure that your sister can at least come to earth. She sent me a present.”

“And the bad news?” Fury sighed.

Maria led them to the office she had requisitioned within the Avengers tower. On her desk was a large metal box, with a note attached. Fury lifted it with a finger, and raised an eyebrow at the winking caricature of Ruby that made up the only marking.

“I havent opened it. I wanted to make sure that I had some super heroes around when I opened it. In case she found some space monster that she thought would make a good pet.”

“Well, I don't think any of us would have experience with that, but we might as well get some.” Fury grumbled. 

“Alright ready?” The assembled nodded. Maria clicked open the lid and grimaced. “Ah, I should have I guessed.” Maria sighed, reaching into the box and pulling from it an absolutely massive handgun. 

“What the everloving fuck is that?” Fury leans forward ever so slightly.

“That appears to be a Ruby special edition .50 BMG Thunder.”

Maria pulled an oversized cartridge from the box. “This... Is not a .50 BMG. I... Don't know what this is.” The cartridge was longer than her hand. 

Weiss plucked the cartridge from her and examined it. “This appears to be... hmm. Anti material... 13 millimeter diameter bullet... about 110 mil in total length.” Weiss glanced at the pistol. “What kind of recoil control is in that thing to prevent it from just breaking your entire arm?”

“No idea but this is at least twenty pounds.” 

“Either my sister has gotten even worse at flirting, which would be sort of wild, or... she’s doing something weird and Ozpin inspired.”

Maria looked down the side of the barrel, to its massive flash suppressor. “It says... Caladbolg?”

“Another name for Excalibur... weird.”

“Hey guys. Well, girls, anyway, guess who got mysterious packages and are also beacon graduates? That's right, you three!” Stark announced poking his head through the door. “Jesus Christ is that a hand held tank?”

  
  


“You have retrieved what I asked of you?” Zimo grinned a little grin.

“Yup.” The heavily armored figure in white held up the little book. “I took a look inside... What are you planning on using this whole thing for?”

“What need do you have to know?”

“...” The figure was silent for a moment, before stepping forward and whispering. “Hail Hydra.”

Zimo grinned widely. “Hail Hydra.”

“God damn it.” Jaune growled, drawing his great sword. “Fuck this! I tried! I really did!”

He ranted to the small man in front of him. “I thought I was cut out for this line of work! But I keep getting hired by god damn fucking Nazi’s!” He drove his blade through Zimo’s heart. “Fuck it, I’m going to go join Pyrrha.”

  
  
  
  


Ruby Rose gets one last teleport out of the the chunk of corrupted palladium she had been using to power her armor. Unfortunately for her its not back to her warehouse in Sydney, its to the corner of a palace in Asgard. She grumbles, picks up the last rucksack she needed to transport, and starts trying to think of a way to get to the giant teleporter canon thing without an SEP field running.

It isn't as hard as she expected, Loki's regime isn't particularly guard heavy, and at the portal there's just one idiot running it. She waits, for far longer than she should, for someone to come and request transport to Midgar, and that person happens to be Loki himself. She waits, and waits, and at the very last second leaps in, apparently unseen.

With grim panic she realizes that it wasn't the last second at all, but far far later as she falls out of the rainbow bridge and starts to loose consciousness. Grimly she wonders if this is the end, but doubts that the world would be so generous to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a little quiet discord that has a certain energy to it. https://discord.gg/dPQy4HJ  
Its mostly BNHA stuff, but you, yes you, could change that! but probably not.
> 
> I have a writing tumblr at epitomizedtyrant.tumblr.com by which I mean I have it and not that I've used it for a while.


End file.
